The Relationship between Story Grammar and How Grade Six Cree Students Recall Stories.

Cronin, Mary C.

A study examined the concept of the universality or the cultural specificity of the ideal story structure using the J. M. Mandler and N. S. Johnson story grammar. Specifically, the study tested the effect of two different story structures, one a conventional fairy tale and the other a Cree Indian narrative, on the recall of Cree Indian children. Sixteen sixth grade children individually read and recalled rewritten versions of two stories. The two stories had been analyzed in terms of the Mandler and Johnson grammar and had been found to have many points of difference in story structure. The conventional fairy tale closely matched the ideal structure of the Mandler and Johnson grammar, while the Cree narrative differed somewhat from the ideal. The results showed that the fairy tale was recalled more easily by the Cree children than the Cree narrative. This finding should not be interpreted to support the universality of story structure concept or to mean that Cree Indians have become completely acculturated and have lost their traditional schema. (FL)